


almost-nightmares, lopsided deals, and why you can't stand tophats

by catchthephiver



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M, IT'LL GET BETTER WHEN IT COMES TO PLOT I PROMISE, just a start, nothing graphic in this chapter but there will be sex eventually, yeah this is not so great but
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-27 02:12:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2675051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catchthephiver/pseuds/catchthephiver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A floating triangle named Bill needs your help getting out of the dreamscape. He doesn't give you a lot of choice in the matter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	almost-nightmares, lopsided deals, and why you can't stand tophats

**Author's Note:**

> hey, this is my first ever work on ao3 and i've never written a reader insert before so critique would be awesome. did you like it? did you not like it? any ideas for future chapters? plot points? want to tell me i'm an asshole? let me know, pal  
> if you want to drop me a line, my tumblr is marshallstackerpentecost

Your room was not how you remembered it- subtle differences, you noticed, as you sat up in bed. Well, mostly subtle. It was in grayscale, first of all- the normally colorful walls and fairy lights above your bed were casting ominous grey shadows onto the floor. It reminded you of a 50’s horror flick, high contrast. Everything seemed completely silent, and it took you a moment to register that your fish weren’t moving in their tank. You assumed at first they were dead, but they appeared to be moving in slow-mo, waving their fins and opening and closing their mouths at a snail’s pace.

Where you were was some kind of mockery of your bedroom, a parody of the bright and colorful place it usually was.

You stood up, your breath seeming to hang in the air as it exited your mouth. It seemed like you should be more shocked at this strange turn of events- but everything felt familiar somehow. Not safe, just normal.

“I can assure you that I’m anything but, kid!”

You all but squeaked; whirling around so clumsily that you fell straight on your ass on the wood floor. The disembodied voice from behind you sounded like what caps lock looked like; it seemed like something that should have been scrawled on some crunchyroll message board.

“Who’s there?!” You stammered, sounding a bit caps lock-y yourself.

Whoever he was laughed- a long string of theatrical ‘ha’s that seemed to echo off of every surface, including the insides of your head. It reverberated in your bones, your organs, your eyes. You moved to cover your ears, but it stopped before you could.

“The name’s Bill Cipher, kid, don’t go forgetting it!” A shape appeared in front of you- and that’s exactly what he was, a triangle with arms and legs. A shade of yellow that seemed too bright to even be real, long and thin black limbs, one huge round eye with a slit for a pupil. He was looking down at you with what appeared to be a smile, though it was impossible to tell without a mouth.

“Bill seems like a weird name for a floating triangle,” you murmured through dry lips before you could catch yourself. It wasn’t exactly true once you considered it- Bill wasn’t a weird name at all, it was completely average. Too average for a floating, snappily dressed triangle.

“Where am I?” you asked, with a tad more bite this time, hoping he would disregard your last sentence. He seemed to know what you wanted, because it was exactly what he did.

“You’re in the dreamscape, doll!” He laughed as you cringed at the pet name, moving on nonetheless. “Your new pal Bill- that’s me, by the way- just decided to drop by for a little chat! You’re gonna be seeing a lot of me pretty soon, hot stuff.”

Bill was talking too fast for you to register- you figured that was the point. It would have been difficult even if anything that came out of his (mouth? face?) made a lick of sense at all. You furrowed your brows, finally managing to stand up on shaky legs. 

“Dreamscape? What on Earth are you talking about?” you blurted. Bill instantly began talking again, barely giving you a chance to voice your confusion.

“HAHA! Who said anything about Earth, doll? This isn’t Earth! Not the Earth you know, at least!” His eye became a half circle- so THAT was a smile. “Now listen here, kid- I’ve been searching far and wide in this dump of a town for the perfect human to help me, and that human just so happens to be you. So listen up, because you’re not getting a choice, understand? I need someone with a special kind of attitude. You’re going to help me get out of the dreamscape, kiddo.”

You brushed your hair away from your face, eyes widening. Sure, this town was weird- growing up in Gravity Falls, you’d heard the stories of monsters in the woods just like everyone else. Being older now, you’d passed them off as myth, but this was seriously weird. Why this dinky little tourist trap of a town, and why you of all people? You weren’t particularly perceptive, intelligent, or talented, nor have you ever had a knack for the supernatural.

“Give yourself more credit, doll. You’re more than you can understand right now. More than meets the EYE, if you will!” Bill cackled again- had he just read your mind?

“Yes,” he answered simply, and you stepped back.

“Help you leave the dreamscape? What does that entail, exactly? What the hell do you want from me?” you snapped.

“All in due time, sweetcheeks! You’ll be hearing from me real soon, but it’s time to wake up now!” Bill hovered closer to you, drawing his tiny black fingers down your cheek- burning you. His skin- was it skin at all?- was hot to the touch, and you hissed.

“Wake up?” You asked, rubbing at your cheek, your fingers cold in comparison.

“Haha, yeah! Jeez, we’ve got a lot of work to do! Do you even remember how you got here?”

No, you realized, you didn’t.

You shot up in bed, a cold sweat shining in the warm glow of your fairy lights. Gasping for air you scrambled out of your covers and to the edge of your bed. Everything was exactly how it had been when you had gone to bed. Lights glowing, fish swimming lazily in their tank. Checking your clock- 4:47 AM- you made your way to your bathroom, limbs still heavy with sleep. 

Of course it had just been a dream, you told yourself, splashing cold water onto your face over the basin of the sink. Floating triangles with bowties- how stupid. You couldn’t believe you had gotten so worked up about it in the first place.

You rubbed at your cheek, a burning sensation distracting from the cold of the water, and looked into the mirror. Three red marks ran from your cheekbone to your jawline- about the size of tiny fingers. They were fading before your eyes, but still visible against your skin.

Your heart skipped a beat.


End file.
